The immortal class

the long version

"Travis Hugh Culley came to Chicago to work and live as an artist. He knew he'd have to struggle, but he found that his struggle meant more than hard work and a taste for poverty. In becoming a bike messenger, he found a sense of community and fulfillment - and a brotherhood of like-minded individualists. He rode like a postmodern cowboy across the city's landscape; he passed like a shadow through its soaring office towers; he soared like a falcon through the roaring chaos of the multilayered streets of Chicago. He became an invisible man in society, yet at the same time its most intimate observer. In one of the most dangerous jobs on dry land, he found freedom.". "In The Immortal Class, Culley takes us inside the heart and soul of an urban icon - the bicycle messenger. In describing his own history and those of his peers, he evokes a classic American maverick, deeply woven into the fabric of society - from the pits of squalor to the highest reaches of power and privilege - yet always resolutely, exuberantly outside. And he celebrates a culture that eschews the motorized vehicle: the cult of human power."--BOOK JACKET.